


Clement

by TheFinalKey16



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Confrontation, Forgiveness, Gen, Isa’s POV, Mentions of former abuse, mentions of torment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 02:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16467293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFinalKey16/pseuds/TheFinalKey16
Summary: After the Keyblade war is over, Kairi confronts Isa about what happened during her time as the Organization’s prisoner. Much to his surprise, she remembers their past from when she was little, opening memories and emotions he’d long forgotten.





	Clement

She sat down next to Isa, though he noted that she stayed well out of his reach, not that he could blame her.

Silence filled the air for several minutes, and he was tense throughout it, waiting for her to scream at him or hurt him, to fault him for all of the abuse he put her through while she was his prisoner.

He deserved that, he felt, to be yelled and screamed at. For her to inflict some of the pain that he’d inflicted upon her back at him.

What he didn’t expect for her to say, was “I got my memories back..”

He looked over at her in surprise, and saw her fiddling with her necklace, his gaze softening as he recognized her nervous habit. Of course she was nervous, why wouldn’t she be? After all, he’d spent months torturing her physically, mentally, and emotionally. He’d done everything in his power to break her, and he couldn’t imagine how she was feeling right now.

As if him torturing and abusing her, he couldn’t imagine what the knowledge of her past was making her feel, what with their history and all. 

He stayed quiet for a few moments, before responding with a simple “I see..”

He heard her take in a deep breath as he spoke, it was probably the softest and gentlest she’d ever heard it. As she turned to face him, he wanted to turn his head away, but he couldn’t seem to be willing to break the gaze he held with the young Princess.

“Did you... did you remember me, when you did all of that to me?” He nodded his head.

How could he not? He remembered the little girl who squealed at the sight of him, barreling into him with a bear hug in store. He remembered baking cookies with her and watching movies inside of pillow forts with Lea. The three of them going on adventures in her backyard or around Radiant Garden and picking up ice cream at the end of the day.

He remembered when they’d gang up on Lea while he slept to attack him with tickles to the point where he was sprinting to the bathroom faster than Isa had ever seen him run before, which caused Kairi to erupt into a fit of giggles and laughter that made anyone who heard it smile and feel happier.

None of that had mattered though when she sat in that cell as their prisoner, none of those memories had made a difference when it came to her being hurt by his own hands.

“Why did you do it?” She asked softly, her voice tight like she was about to cry, and that was when Isa forced himself to look away, his chest tight as he saw tears brim his eyes. Isa took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, looking up at the sky.

“At the time.. I felt nothing. No memories brought an inkling of emotion, no spark of light. There was only emptiness, and darkness, and a longing to be whole once more so I could simply feel again.” His eyes narrowed as he watched the clouds. “Now though it seems like not feeling was more merciful than anything.”

He sighed softly, looking down at the ground as he leaned over, his elbows resting on his knees.

“I had a job to do, to keep you prisoner and to keep Sora angry. I knew that him seeing you injured and bleeding would make him go over the edge, only... everytime I saw you hurt I’d remember you when you were little, how you’d cry when you’d scrape your knee or shriek when you stubbed your toe or hit your forehead on the doorknob, and I.. I couldn’t leave you like that, so I’d heal you and leave.” 

He chuckled sadly to himself, shaking his head at the memory of it, disgusted with himself.

“I thought it merciful at the time, but now I realize that by healing you I had to keep coming back to break you over and over again, and for that I’m so sorry. You were so brave, you didn’t shed a tear while I hurt you, even though you screamed and cried out in pain, though I know you sobbed into the dogs neck every night. I was relieved when Riku showed up to save you, that’s why I retreated so quickly, I didn’t want to hurt you any more, so I let you get away.”

She was silent throughout this, and he trembled a little as he continued, his eyes filling with tears.

“I’m sorry Kairi... I’m so sorry for what I did to you.. I-i had no right to-“ he began to weep, covering his eyes as his heart filled with grief and regret and self hatred. How could he have done this to her? How could he ever expect her to forgive him?

Small arms wrapped around him cautiously, and he looked down in surprise to see Kairi offering a small smile, and she said three little words that made him break down.

“I forgive you.”

Tears rushed down his cheeks as he crumbled in her arms, gripping her tightly as he buried his face into her shoulder as he wept. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he finally stopped, no more tears left to shed, his eyes puffy and red and his throat dry and sore. Now that he stopped shaking he was aware that her small hand was rubbing back, just like he used to do for her when she was little. 

He relaxed a bit, tired from crying, and he closed his eyes, feeling a bit more at peace now. They stayed like that for a while, until finally he broke the silence by uttering two soft words to her.

“Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Clement: forgiving someone who has done something wrong although you have the power to punish them severely; merciful
> 
> Me and my friend were talking about Kairi’s grandma and we went into a headcanon I had about Lea and Isa babysitting her while she was in Radiant Garden. We were talking about Kairi interacting with Isa now, and this was born!   
> Let me know what you think by leaving me a review!


End file.
